When American hostage Bowe Bergdahl was exchanged for five Taliban commanders last May 31, the Obama White House already knew what was alleged -- that the Army sergeant had abandoned his unit in Afghanistan.
Nevertheless, his parents were invited to a Rose Garden ceremony as if the young man was a conquering hero, and National Security Advisor Susan Rice said he'd served with "honor and distinction."
Earlier this week, the Army confirmed what was widely known and charged Bergdahl with desertion and misbehavior before the enemy.
Whatever happens to him now will happen. He could get life in prison, and members of his unit reckon that might well be deserved.
"We all took an oath and had to abide by orders," said Cody Full, his former roommate, "and you don't just leave your fellow Americans to join somebody else."
What is more frightening is that the president who approved the swap without consulting Congress, despite federal law requiring him to do so, will be commander in chief for nearly the next two years. In just the immediate future, he'll determine whether the United States will sign a nuclear agreement with Iran that, at every new revelation, appears to give the Middle East nation more and more of what it wants, and less and less of what we need.
It's also in Obama's hands what tools will and will not be employed to stop the Islamic State from gobbling up Middle East territory and how, if at all, he'll confront Russia's bullying in the Ukraine.
It's a scary time for the fate of the world's biggest superpower to be in the hands of the man who was nominated for the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize after less than two weeks in office and awarded it "for the message that he stands for."